Freezing apparatus



Aug. 26, 1952 p, AMERIO 2,608,069

FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Maron e, 195o IWII' E III Aw f4 woe/vir Patented Aug. 26, ,71952 l f' STATES ?TENT OFFICE, 'y

, A l ,4 y. Y I l *2;608069, Y y 3- y FREEZING APPARATUS: l PasqualesAmerio, HasbrouckV Heights, Ni J. ApplieaumMarch. 9, 195o, seria1 No. 148,657

1 claim. (C1- c25-114iv This-application is a continuation-ln-part of my co-'pending application Serial No. 87,689, filed April 1949, now'abandon'e'd.

This y invention relates' to commercial freezing apparatusand relates more particularly to an improved freezer of` the type which" has plural spaced plates which arev arran'gedto move into intimate engagementwith the containers holding the products beingfro'zen and to exert a measured degree of pressure on the products.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improvedarrangement for exerting pressure on one of the terminal plates in a bank off such plates,` the other' terminalv` plateibeing fixed. l

A furtherl object of the invention'isY to provide a novel suspension arrangement for all of the platesgwexcept the lowermost plate which is fixed, in an assembly'wherein the plates are arranged insuperimposed relation and pressure isA applied 'to-"the top-plate, which in turn is` applied to the packaged' articles of'food in the" area (between the several lower plates.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved header arrangement for feeding the fluid refrigerant to the hollow plates so as to avoid the formation of bubbles at the inlet port which tend to obstruct the free flow of fluid and thus cause uneven and uncertain freezing results. The improvement in this connection consists of a vertical feed duct extending downwardly through the refrigeration chamber and terminating in a horizontal section extending across a portion of the lower wall of said chamber. A plurality of vertical ducts of progressively increasing lengths extend upwardly from the horizontal section, the upper ends thereof being connected with the inlet ports of the hollow plates by flexible ducts, also of progressively increasing lengths. By this arrangement the fluid refrigerant flows down to the horizontal duct and then rises in the vertical ducts. There is no formation of bubbles at the inlet ports and the result is uniform freezing of all packages in the chamber.

In the drawing: l

3 Fig. 1 is a movable plate freezer embodying the -lpresent invention, the view showing the doors in open position.

Fig. 2 is a broken side elevation of the several plates showing the suspension arrangement.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the plates showing the header assembly constituting the improved fluid feed.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4 2" of Fig. 3' showing the placement'of the inlet and outlet flexible ducts.

The freezing apparatus includes an insulated housing IQ having front doors II and I2 anda plurality of movable hollow plates I3 which receive the huid refrigerant. The lowermost plate I'lik is fixed and is supported at its two opposed transverse edges'on angle brackets I5' securedvt'o spaced vertical posts I8 on each sidevv of 'the-irefrigeration chamber I?. v f I No detailsfof the co'nstructi'onv ofthe hollow plates I3 and I4 are shownl sinceplat'e's offthis cl'iaracterare well known in the art. The uppermost movable plate I3 is provided on itsupper surface with a reinforcing member' 2 I- an'd's supported-by` apiston rod 22 extending finto a-'hydraulic jack123 For the purpose of guiding plates I 3in1-'their -upran'd dow-n movement tliey'are` provided with spacedfpins 24'extending transversely vatv each end-of the plates, such pins engaging the inner sur-face of `posts Ii.V

Each movable plate I3 isreinforcedialong'each lateral edge by an angle bracket `ii-which maybe welded thereto and pins 24 may be welded to the bracket 0r directly to the plate. The plate I3 immediately below plate I3' is suspended from the latter by plural bolts 21 having ahead 28 at one end thereof and carrying a nut 20 at its opposite end. One such bolt may be positioned adjacent each corner of the plates, the bolt hole passing through the angle 26. Thus, the plate I3 may become spaced relative to I3' a distance equal to the distance between the head and the nut.

The next lower plate is suspended from the plate next above in the same fashion, the bolt below being conveniently staggered as shown in Fig. 2.

The fluid refrigerant is supplied to the plates by means of a vertical supply duct 34 which at its upper end is connected with the compressor 34. At its lower end the supply duct has a short horizontal square section 35 and a plurality of vertical ducts of smaller diameter than ducts 35 and 3'I extending upwardly from section 35, such ducts being of progressively increasing length ranging from duct 36, which is the shortest, to duct 3l which is the longest and which is disposed alongside of vertical duct 3A. Square duct 35 has at the end thereof a bleed valve 35' which is provided for the drainage of the undesirable oils that normally accumulate in freezing systems of .this type; The undesirable oils being heavier than the refrigerant fluid settle in ductI 35 and do not enter the plates I3 thus causing sluggish circulation. Flexible ducts 38 connect the 3 outlet ends of ducts 36-31 with the inlet ports 39 of plates I3, such flexible ducts also being of progressively increasing lengths.

The lengths of fixed ducts 36-31 and flexible ducts 38 are so proportioned as to permit plates I3 to move from their upper and lower extreme positions without any tugging on the flexible ducts.

The plates are also provided with outlet ports 4I which are disposed on one side thereof, Fig. 4, and which are connected to flexible ducts 4|. The ducts IlV are in turn connected to a return duct 42 which returns the fluid refrigerant, now in its gaseous state, to the compressor.

The flexible ducts Il are positioned on one side of the plates as shown in Fig. 4 and are similarly proportioned to provide freedom of movement of the plates I3.

In operation the uppermost plate I3 is rst raised by the hydraulic jack to its uppermost position and in so doing the several lower plates I3 are spaced apart their maximum distance as defined by the lengths of bolts 21. The articles to be frozen, in packaged state, are placed on the upper surfaces of the several plates and the piston then moved downwardly to apply a desired pressure on the packaged foods. The pressure is uniformly transferred to all of the packages and the freezing operation then commences. The liquid refrigerant passes downwardly through supply duct 34, into horizontal section 35 and thence upwardly through the vertical ducts 36--31 in an even flow into the hollow plates.

While one form or embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein for illustrative purposes, and the construction and arrangement incidental to a specific application thereof have been disclosed and discussed in detail. it is to be understood that the invention .is limited neither to the mere details or relative arrangement of parts, nor to its specific embodiment shown herein, but that extensive deviations from the illustrated form or embodiment of the 2i invention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

In a, freezing apparatus, the combination of a housing, a plurality of hollow plates provided with inlet and outlet ports for receiving a fluid refrigerant and arranged in superimposed relation, a vertical duct extending downwardly through the housing for supplying' the uid refrigerant and terminating in a horizontal section provided with a bleed valve at its outer end, a plurality of vertical ducts of progressively increasing lengths leading upwardly from said horizontal section, and flexible ducts of progressively increasing lengths connecting the upper ends of the vertical duots'with the inlet ports disposed at the rear of said plates, a vertical return duct, progressively increasing lengths of flexible ducts connecting said outlet ports with said return duct disposed at one side of said plates, the lower plate being fixed and the upper plate being movable toward and away from the lower plate, and means comprising headed bolts for suspending each adjoining pair of movable plates successively from the upper plate, the bolts being slidable relative to the plates to permit the movable plates to assume contact with articles placed between the plates.

PASQUALE AMERIO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Raye Oct. 18, 1949 

